Thanks for caring Ana. What an ordeal! I went from a possible stent placement to the position of needing all 3 coronary arteries bipassed plus the valve replaced with a plastic valve and they placed pacemaker leads for just in case. I came through the surgery and somewhere along the line they decided not to replace the valve and eventually the pacemaker leads were pulled. But bottom line I had to have open heart surgery - they sawed through several ribs to get my heart out and do some nipping and tucking.

So now that's fixed and I just have to be careful (sternum precautions) and heal up as best I can. My nurses and therapist all say I'm doing very well. I'm just coping with the pain as best I can and taking things slowly.

The worse part for me to endure other than the pain was that I needed to stay in a rehab facility for at least a week and I couldn't be alone. There were always people in the room talking and talking and they never stopped talking. It was driving me bonkers. So against my doctor's advice I discharged myself to my own home. He wanted me to stay with family for another 3 weeks but I could not have endured it. I needed my space.

Anyway, things are working out well. the visiting physical therapist does not think I can benefit from her services at this time so she is discharging herself. (Outpatient Cardiac Rehab would benefit me more).

I've got a couple more therapists/nurses coming next week so we'll see how that works out. Everyone seems to agree with me that I am managing my own home care fine.

The challenge now is to get to my doctor appointments - and get my laundry done. And go shopping. I can't drive for a while. And I can't lift anything. So that creates a problem. Maybe the occupational therapist can offer some kind of home help for transportation, shopping, etc.

I'm so GLAD to be home. My cat hollered at me nonstop for hours yesterday. I put her in a lot of stress the whole time I was gone and she worried constantly. Now we are content.

sorry for not being here much - last month was a weird one - my dad had several small strokes before christmas ( he's doing great now ),my nephew was getting settled into their new house just a few miles from me ,and my internet was down more often than up. the usual real life stuff.

now i have to catch up on what everyone's been up to ,and stay warm at the same time ! and as cold as it is here in the mountains , i'm glad i'm not in new england anymore ! bright sides to everything.

If anyone wants to try a delicious healthy sherbet, I just played around with a few ingredients and it turned out amazing. Take a container of Fage, a couple sliced frozen bananas and a cup of frozen berries (any kind) and put it in a food processor. Amazing and perfectly healthy and nutritious.

Sorta, I am still adjusting to my age as well. It's just a number to me anyway. I feel young!

Sharon, you really went through the ringer. I hope that you can get some assistance around the house. Maybe you can find a grocery delivery also. Many do not charge much at all for the service. Big Hugs!

Nan, after January the novelty dies down and their resolutions are history and it'll be back to those that really feel like working out. We were all given ab lecture in the beginning of class about welcoming the newbies. It felt like gradeschool. :rotfl: Stay warm!

SpaceQ, anything fun planned?

L4L, my hubby would beg to differ.

niteowel, good to see you! I am sorry to hear about your dad but glad he is doing better. I hope your new year is wonderful!

Last week in my backyard there was a female starving pitbull and obvious she has puppies so I started feeding her but couldn't find her pups because I planned to call the pit bull rescue. Soon another dog stole her food each day. Yesterday I found her home and the other dog's home and ripped them because she looked so bad -the male lookes OK, he's a black retriever. This AM I took some cans of pedrigree over for her and confessed that I'm so happy she has a home. I would not apologize -I meant what I said. They are going to keep her, her name is Lola. This summer I could offer to have her spayed. The place is pretty bad. But then there's the 5 pups. These people look kinda degenerate really and the clutter on the porch, good grief. Won't it be better when we all have to buy our pets.

Happier thoughts. My kits have alot of upscale catnip infused toys but prefer to play with invisible mice and attack my feet ouch!! They are the yeowww catnip toys. 50$ worth from amazon.

How's 2013 so far?

_________________________
I wish I were a cat and belonged to me ~ My Aunt Helen Mary Rose

Well the sun came out, for a while, and it warmed up a bit more than expected, so I loaded up and went to Mom's to play with Baby.

Baby and I went head hunting, of course. I walked around and dug for over 2 hours and found nothing. I finally gave up, and walked over and picked Baby up and found a point on the ground near her. Yaaaaa!

It's been worked and reworked, sharpened and resharpened, but it's still a nice point.